I personally was sickened this morning when CNN featured this story~ and I think my fellow members are exactly right....its only a matter of time till these animals are on the shoulders of Paris Hilton types ... and new exotic birds are caged by the droves and sold for tens of thousands becouse sick Jerks want the status of "having one"

I really hope that the location is handled the right way~ but in two hundred years the new-ness wears off ... who protects the creatures then?

You are probably right. People are near there right now. From 1995 through 1999, I worked just across the border in the Papua New Guinea Central Highlands (half the island is Papuan, the western part Indonesian). I was, and am, a consultant for Chevron. We went in to try to extract oil and save as much environment and biodiversity as possible. The jungle was extremely remote and uninhabited. We would land two men and a chain saw in a mountain top. They would clear for and build a heliport. We would land a bulldozer and dynamite on that heliport and raze the top of the mountain to 2-4 acres. This area was lined with boards cut to clear the land and a drilling rig was inserted, one piece at a time, by helicopter.

Although uninhabited, workers are flown in on $10,000/hr (USD) helicopters. They are paid $0.87/day and all the rice and chicken they can eat. These are wealthy men in their country. In four years, I saw two mammals, a tree kangaroo and a possum; they were quickly stoned and eaten raw by laborers. I woke many a day (sleep when you can) and night to rocks being thrown. Any small bird that could be trapped under the walkways at the camp were stoned and eaten on the spot, raw.

After we built our first small refinery, bright sodium vapor security lights burned all night and one could see and hear white Cockatoos circling the light, screaming, all night long. There is an article I am going to post after this by a naturist who operated in the same area and saw similar eerie animal behavior. At the time, I had not had my avian "epiphany". I understood little of what was going on around me. I have learned many lessons since then; I no longer volunteer for "gypsy" wells where a small group of men are landed in a remote area to start the abuse of that land.

I've been trying to figure out what makes humans want to own every animal in the world. Do you think it's a feeling people have that we can make the animals lives better by nurturing it? (some think all animals would be healthier/happier indoors). Or owning something nobody else has? Or is it greed? This question has been bothering me for a long time. What motivates people to remove animals from their natural habibat and bring them into a foreign place? Do they really think they are benefiting the birds?

Hellobaby, Katy, and Liviray have very good points. Sad as it may be, these animals will be in rescues before too long.

My Opinion is (don't be too harsh on me) that as long as there are very rich countries and very poor countries, there will always be problems with the wild animals being trapped and their habitats destroyed. There is just very limited ways to make money in the countries these animals belong to. Trapping/smuggling animals, logging, etc.. are the only ways some of these people can feed their families in the poor countries. And the richer countries make it worse for their greed of owning exotic animals and having 10,000 square foot homes made of the trees these animals would have lived in. And, I don't see an end in sight.

I wouldn't argue that point at all. Whoever coined the phrase about money being the source of evil was certainly speaking the truth. While it's true that some people have very limited options when it comes to making a living, selfishness also plays a role. Many people refuse to think about how their acitons can impact other species and the environment.

As long as there is a market for exotic animals...We even have people who read this site frequently and continue to argue in favor of "good" breeders, as well as people who say they love birds and want to get into breeding just so that they can make a living doing what they enjoy.

M2P, it was the Apostle Paul. And what he actually said was, "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." (That's the best translation I can do) The act of exchange is how we live, all of us. I inhale oxygen, and exhale carbon dioxide; plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. I trade my sewing and jewelry-making and other skills for (money to buy) food, rent, (fabrics for) clothing, and so on. Nothing wrong with that. The problem is that very few of us are really content with living; we want More Stuff, More Influence, More Power, and the list goes on. And that is the basis of the "love of money" which is the root of all kinds of evil. . It's what lost us the first Paradise, and what could destroy this one. Humans don't really evolve. They continue to use and abuse everything possible, and only by God's grace do we have opportunity to change the kind of people we are, so we can be trusted with the New Heaven and earth.Sad, but exploitation is the "normal" human thing to do, umnless we have direct assistance from God or one of His messengers.